Speaker Selection : Suggestions needed

swash

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Hi all


I'm planning to purchase a pair of speakers for my stereo setup and would welcome advice/suggestions regarding the same.


Some information which might be helpful :


1. Room size 15X15 approx

2. Source - flac/wav files from my PC

3. DAC - currently own Asus Xonar U7 USB DAC + Fiio E17 USB AMP/DAC

4. Amplifier - Planning to go for Marantz PM5005 or similar

5. Preferred music genres : Mostly Old Hindi songs and contemporary bollywood.

Unfortunately I dont have the option of auditioning various stuff so have to rely on online reviews/advice/suggestions.

I'm looking for a speaker with nice,clear,detailed sound with forward mids, detailed highs with adequate bass and wide soundstage.

To give an example I really like the clean and forward sound signature of the grado headphones and looking for something similar from my speakers.

If the sound gets too much fatiguing I can always EQ it down.

I did a bit of research and one speaker which caught my attention is JBL STUDIO 530 but I dont know where its available in India if at all ?

Also please advice whether 40 watts/channel provided by Marantz 5005 is enough for my room size or I should be looking for something higher.

Thanks & regards
 
Budget is 50K for speakers at the moment though if any good choice is available then can extend further.
 
Hi all

To give an example I really like the clean and forward sound signature of the grado headphones and looking for something similar from my speakers.

If the sound gets too much fatiguing I can always EQ it down.

I did a bit of research and one speaker which caught my attention is JBL STUDIO 530 but I dont know where its available in India if at all ?

Are you really looking for "forward sounding speakers"? That bill will be satisfied for Rs 3000 or less. Just look for 1st Gen PSB alpha's in the used market. There are plenty of them around. Just watch out for fakes as these speakers are super popular in the used market.

Having said they since you say your primary listening is old hindi song I would urge you to try out speakers with lush mid section rather than bright forward sound. But then again tonality is a very personal thing so if bright and forward is what you need you don't need to shell out 50k.
 
Hi
Thanks for your inputs....by 'forward sounding' I mean the sound should be detailed with nice clarity and instrument separation. Like I was watching a review on youtube and the reviwer played the same song First with Wharfedale 220 and then with JBL Studio 530 and clearly the JBLs were the winner offering much more detail and clarity than the Wharfedale.
 
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Hi
Thanks for your inputs....by 'forward sounding' I mean the sound should be detailed with nice clarity and instrument separation. Like I was watching a review on youtube and the reviwer played the same song First with Wharfedale 220 and then with JBL Studio 530 and clearly the JBLs were the winner offering much more detail and clarity than the Wharfedale.

I don't know how you heard the difference over youtube, but yes forward sounding speakers always sound "more detailed" as it takes a lot ambient/spatial cues in the music and misaligns their timing causing our brain to interpret them as additional details rather than spatial cues required for our brain to rebuild the music's imaging. Forward sound is a usually a result of baffle step correction not being incorporated in the speaker design and overstretching the midbass far into the high frequency range causing the sound to become directional. I find foward sounding speakers like most JBLs, give extra bite to vintage rock music. Like I said earlier there is no "correct way" to listen to music, but you certainly dont have to spend 50K to get speakers with a forward sonic signature.
 
What is your location? If any other forum members are nearby you can try and audition whatever they have, if no dealers are present in your area.
 
What is your location? If any other forum members are nearby you can try and audition whatever they have, if no dealers are present in your area.
Varanasi in UP and there are no dealers offering audition as far as I know.
 
Hi all

Some information which might be helpful :

3. DAC - currently own Asus Xonar U7 USB DAC + Fiio E17 USB AMP/DAC

4. Amplifier - Planning to go for Marantz PM5005 or similar

5. Preferred music genres : Mostly Old Hindi songs and contemporary bollywood.

Thanks & regards

How are you intending to use the Asus and Fiio together? Marantz is a good one, however, you should look for efficient speakers to drive. Over 88dB and 8Ohms rated should be good. To go with Marantz, from the easily available speakers, I would suggest Polk RTi A3, Dali Zensor 3, etc. In case you do not have the amp yet, you can even look at Active monitors to connect to the DAC (Z Review - Yamaha HS8 (Sound like they Look)).

MaSh
 
How are you intending to use the Asus and Fiio together? Marantz is a good one, however, you should look for efficient speakers to drive. Over 88dB and 8Ohms rated should be good. To go with Marantz, from the easily available speakers, I would suggest Polk RTi A3, Dali Zensor 3, etc. In case you do not have the amp yet, you can even look at Active monitors to connect to the DAC (Z Review - Yamaha HS8 (Sound like they Look)).

MaSh
Presently I plan to use the Asus Xonar along with still to be acquired Amp+speaker. Eventually I do plan to upgrade to something like Schiit Modi 2 Uber/Multibit. I did consider active monitors for a while specially JBL LSR 305 but it seems a decent amp plus speaker combo would pack considerably more punch than active monitors ( of course these impressions are gathered from various online reviews only).At the moment I'm trying to locate any dealer for JBL speakers and if JBL Studio 530 is available with them.
 
Hi
Thanks for your inputs....by 'forward sounding' I mean the sound should be detailed with nice clarity and instrument separation. Like I was watching a review on youtube and the reviwer played the same song First with Wharfedale 220 and then with JBL Studio 530 and clearly the JBLs were the winner offering much more detail and clarity than the Wharfedale.


It also depends on what content you will be playing later once you have them and also the quality of the source......some speakers will sound great with instrumental music but if you try some disco or catchy Bollywood music, it may not sound as great as you experienced first....

Hence it is advised to demo / audition as many brands and models with your kind of music and movies....(carry CDs or Mp3s and check some action scenes). Speakers which can deliver maximum frequencies between 20hz and 20khz are great to have......
 
Hi since you are in Varanasi than you could try Lucknow. Audiosphere and Urban Designs, Madhav Kohli, Parag Narain Road, Shalimar Apts. Lucknow, 9415434861. You can audition and decide.
Best wishes.
 
It also depends on what content you will be playing later once you have them and also the quality of the source......some speakers will sound great with instrumental music but if you try some disco or catchy Bollywood music, it may not sound as great as you experienced first....

Hence it is advised to demo / audition as many brands and models with your kind of music and movies....(carry CDs or Mp3s and check some action scenes). Speakers which can deliver maximum frequencies between 20hz and 20khz are great to have......
Thanks for the inputs.....So looks like will have to go the demo/audition route which will take some time as I've to travel outside of my city.
 
Hi since you are in Varanasi than you could try Lucknow. Audiosphere and Urban Designs, Madhav Kohli, Parag Narain Road, Shalimar Apts. Lucknow, 9415434861. You can audition and decide.
Best wishes.
Thanks for sharing will call them.
 
Thanks for the inputs.....So looks like will have to go the demo/audition route which will take some time as I've to travel outside of my city.


Patience is a virtue.....need to be sure of what you are buying and happy with it.....no point complaining or getting upset later.....
 
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